Morgan
LifeCar Concept
The
green car that will deliver on performance and looks as well as emission
reduction. Now less than 12 months from reality, the British consortium
involved in the project, which includes the legendary sports car MANUFACTURER
Morgan, QinetiQ, Cranfield and Oxford universities, BOC and OSCar, is on target
to unveil the completed and running prototype at the 2008 Geneva show.
The
new vehicle, known as Morgan LIFECar will be ultra quiet, and its exhaust
system will produce only water vapour thanks to its fuel cell converting
hydrogen into electricity.
Part
funded by the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), Morgan LIFECar has been
a 2 ½ year project. The consortium hopes that the LIFECar will produce a
combination of performance, range and fuel economy that should alter our view
of motoring for the future.
The
key to delivering this step change in energy efficiency lies in a combination
of factors, including weight reduction and a different design approach. Costing
a total of £ 1.9 million, with a mix of industry and DTI funding, the two and a half
year project has been broken down into the following areas of responsibility.
The
car's fuel cell system operates by electrochemically combining on-board
hydrogen with oxygen taken from the air outside.
Although
in most respects fuel cells are more like engines than batteries, to the extent
that they generate energy from fuel in a tank rather than store energy, like
batteries, they use electrodes (solid electrical conductors) with an
electrolyte (an electrically conductive medium). When the hydrogen molecules
come into contact with the negative electrodes, the molecules split into
protons and electrons.
The
protons are then carried across the proton exchange membrane to the positive
electrode of the fuel cell whilst the electrons travel around the external
circuit as electricity. The molecules of the hydrogen and oxygen are combined
chemically, with water as the only waste product.
The
only emission from the QinetiQ fuel cell will be water vapour. The electric
power generated by the fuel cells powers the electric motors and turns the
wheels of the vehicle.